Dane in Dubbo

"What is Dubbo?" That was the first question 24-year-old Maria Goltermann had when she found out she would be visiting Australia from Denmark. Maria has 12 weeks to learn all she can about Dubbo, its visitor offerings and the Australian lifestyle.

So… the other day, I thought I was just going to go with Lana to the radio station 2DU, to watch her do her usual Friday “What’s On in Dubbo” feature. Buut, Lana and Richard, had other plans and suddenly Richard was asking ME questions on air! So, on what I thought was a usual Friday morning, my radio virginity was taken! I’m telling you guys, these council people sure are making sure I get the full experience here!

But how great is that!! I’m really thrilled that they engage me in so many projects, so I get as much out of my internship as possible.

Another big experience for me last week, was my visit to the Royal Flying Doctors Service. I know this is something that is really special to Australia, and it does put things into perspective, when we in Denmark complain about the hospital being a 1.5 hour drive away.

It was really fascination to hear about the Flying doctors, nurses, dentists and so forward that fly out each day to assist people in the rural areas of the outback. Can you believe the crew only has 45 minutes to plan the flight, assess the patient and be up in the air again??

Coming to the Education Centre, we were greeted by some of the volunteers that showed us around and told us the story behind the Royal Flying Doctors and the aircrafts. E.g. that these mini intensive care units are actually purchased from the U.S., brought back and painted in Australia and are now worth about $9M. Another thing I found out, from watching the video at the education centre, is that people in the outback actually would do their own treatment, if it wasn’t for the Flying Doctors…
I believe it’s better they let the doctors do their job and they stick to their farming instead.

Anyway this experience was a real eye-opener, of how important the RFDS is to these communities.

Radios that have been used for communication between the RFDS and the remote areas and medicine.

One of the first thing I learned when I came to Dubbo, was the RFDS $20 bill and how it features the founder of RFDS John Flynn and that the body with numbers on the different body parts would, and still is, helping doctors for remote consultations to identify where the patient is injured.

Additionally, School of the Air, is where children in remote areas are schooled via the RFDS radio service and is also a big part of RFDS and something I had not heard or thought of before I visited the education centre.

The real-life stories behind RFDS as well as School of the Air is what made this a really fascinating experience for me.

As I thought the tour was over, we were invited out to see the hangar, where an aircraft had just come in, and I got to see what one of the real planes looks like inside and had a chat about the equipment they use when going out with one of the nurses at RFDS.

Inside and outside one of the aircrafts that are used today

You gotta admire what these nurses, doctors and dentist are doing! It mustn’t always be an easy job.

This was another awesome place that is definitely worth a visit when in Dubbo! You are sure to have an interesting time, and the people working there are just great!